1. Field of the Invention:
This invention relates to a wood improver and a method of improving the quality of wood.
2. Description of the Prior Art:
Wood usually has a water content of about 40 to 200% soon after it has been harvested. The water content is expressed in accordance with the following equation: ##EQU1##
If wooden products are made of wood having such a high wate content (green wood), they are likely to develop problems such as shrinkage, distortion or cracking as they dry by evaporation. These problems are particularly serious with a barked log, a timber product containing the pitch of a tree, or a thick timber product.
In order to prevent the occurrence of such problems, wood has sometimes been treated with polyethylene glycol as a wood improver and thereafter allowed to dry, or it has been dried in a drier having controlled temperature and humidity. The use of polyethylene glycol is, however, limited to special cases since it is too expensive to be commonly used as a wood improver. To the contrary, it is difficult to obtain wood of uniform quality by drying it in a drier, since the quality of wood is easily affected by slight changes of temperature and humidity in the drier. Therefore, there has been a strong need for a wood improver which is inexpensive and can reliably be used to produce wood of uniform quality.